'You Can't Take It With You' at Colonnade - July 25-Aug. 2

July 24th, 2014by Staff Report in Chattnow Art

From left, Emily Miller, Rebecca Lapp, Ed Huckabee, Christine Keefe, William Smith and Keegan Westra portray members of the Sycamore and Kirby families, whose different outlooks on life clash, in "You Can't Take It With You" from Back Alley Productions. Performances are scheduled the next two weekends at the Colonnade. Cast members are from Catoosa, Walker and Whitfield counties in North Georgia and from the
Chattanooga area.

Photo by
Contributed Photo/Times Free Press.

Alice Sycamore is often embarrassed by her odd family:

¦ A grandfather who collects snakes and refuses to pay income tax.

¦ A sister who dreams of being a ballerina but is a terrible dancer.

¦ A father who builds fireworks in the basement.

¦ A mother who writes sordid plays that will never get published.

Not to mention the assorted nonrelations who live in the house:

¦ The Russian ballet instructor/wrestler with strong opinions on politics.

¦ An actress who never stops drinking.

¦ An icebox man who came inside eight years ago to talk to Alice's father and never left.

So Alice expects the worst when she brings her boyfriend home to meet everyone. But Tony, the son of Alice's buttoned-up boss, resents his no-nonsense upbringing and finds the free-spirited Sycamore family endearing. He doesn't even mind the bottle rockets.

But real fireworks fly when Tony's stern father and dissatisfied mother visit the Sycamores on an especially crazy night at their New York house. Throw in a tax investigator, and what happens next drives the action of "You Can't Take It With You." The classic family comedy will be presented over the next two weekends in Ringgold, Ga., as part of Back Alley Productions' fourth season.

Written by George Kaufman and Moss Hart, "You Can't Take It With You" won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was adapted for the screen in 1938, winning Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. A recent Broadway revival has refueled its popularity.